Hillman to post superintendent/high school principal position

July 9, 2013

HILLMAN - During a special meeting of the Hillman Community Schools Board of Education at the end of June, Superintendent Shawn Olson told board members she wanted to resign as superintendent but remain elementary principal.

"It was two positions with different needs," Olson said. "I had to leave the elementary and go to the high school around twice a day for anything from issues to paperwork."

When Olson was at the high school acting as superintendent, someone had to cover her position at the elementary and act as principal to keep things running smoothly in case of emergencies.

"I had someone step up and say they would help out while I was at the high school," Olson said.

With her resignation, the board was forced to hire an interim superintendent until it could decide on how to find a permanent solution. Options are limited with the school funding and hiring a new superintendent could be complicated because of the time of year the search will take place.

Tom Harmon was hired by the school board as interim superintendent to keep things running until a solution is reached by the board. Harmon worked as a superintendent over seven years ago and has experience with the day-to-day activities that need to be handled. He helped the board and administration put together options for the board to pick from based on the school's needs and a tight budget.

The four options presented to the public and board at a pre-meeting workshop on Monday outlined mostly dual position jobs, with one option having two full-time principals with a part-time superintendent position.

"All the options are basically going to cost the same," Harmon said. "Spend no more than in the budget."

An option to post a job opening for a superintendent/high school principal was chosen with a 4-3 vote, with Kelly Burwell, Matt Noffze and Jacki McIntire voting no, and Brad McLaren, Jon Schulze, Charlie Arbour and Nathan Funk voting yes. This will allow the board to move forward and post the position to see if there are any available and qualified candidates for the administrative jobs. The board discussed adding additional duties such as athletic director and academic adviser to the job, but are looking at other options, such as an interim athletic director, to help fill the gaps for now.

In other business:

Nicole Grulke can be reached via email at ngrulke@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5687. Follow Nicole on Twitter @ng_alpenanews.